Railway-switch.



No. 633,055. Patented Sept. l2, I899. C. TROUP.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

(Application flied Tan, 27, 1899.) v (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Shee't| ww. w

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ATTORNEYS.

No. 633,055. Patented Sept. 12, I899. c. TBOUP.

' RAILWAY SWITCH.

[Application filed Ian. 27, 1899.)

( Model.) 3 Sheets- Sheet 3;

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NrTEn STATES PATENT Prion.

onARLEs TROUP, or WATSEKA, ILLINOIS/ RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,055, datedSeptember 12, 1899.

Application filed January 27, 1899. Serial No. 703,840. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES TROUP, residin g at \Vatseka, in the countyof Iroquois and State of Illinois, have made certain new and usefulImprovements in Railroad-Switches, of which the following is aspecification.

My'present invention is an improvement upon one for which I havereceived Letters Patent No. 586,918, dated July 20, 1897, and whichcovers certain devices for operating pivoted switch-rails, for lockingthe same in position to open the main line, and for releasing the saidlocking devices automatically.

My invention com prises certain features of construction, arrangement,and combination of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, (three sheets,) Figure 1 is a plan view ofa section of a railway-switch provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 isan enlarged longitudinal section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1'. Fig. 3 is avertical transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is anenlarged plan view of a portion of the switch, portions of the railsbeing removed. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is asection on the line 7 7 of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a transverse section on theline 8 of Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is a cross-section horizontally on the line 9 9of Fig. 8.

Referring in the first instance particularly to Fig. 1, the letter Aindicates the main or fixed rails, and B the pivoted or switch rails.The latter are scarfedor tapered at their free ends to adapt them to fitclosely with the fixed rails A of the main line and are pivoted at Z),as shown. The points of the said switch-rails B are rigidly connected bythe bar D, which extends under them and is suitably bolted thereto. Thesaid bar D slides in a guide d and is arranged in alinement with thepush-rod E, which is jointed to and operated by a pitman F. The latteris pivotally connected with an arm g of the vertical rock-shaft G, (seeFig. 7,) to which the target H, Fig. 8, is attached. The said shaft G issuitably supported in bearings attached to a switch-stand I. Thisswitchstand has a notched top plate i, and a pivoted drop-latch L,attached to arm g, engages the notches and serves to lock the rock-shaftG,

are shifted to open or close the siding and that the face of the targetH is then at right angles to the track and visible up and down the linewhen the switch is open.

The switch-rails B are looked in position to open the main line, asshown in Fig. 1, by means of a lever M,whic-h is arranged at rightangles to the track and pivoted at m. Itsinner end 772', Fig. 5, isnotched to adapt it to en gage the adjacent switch-railB. The outer endof this locking-lever is weighted and connected by a rod N, Fig. 1, andwith the arm -0 of a rock-shaft O, mounted horizontally in theswitch-stand frame I and having a mutilated bevel-gear P, that mesheswith a similar gear P on the target-shaft G. Thus when suchlocking-lever M is tilted on its pivot 'm to release the switch-rails Bthe shaft 0 is necessarily rocked, and thereby the targetshaft G isrotated a quarter-turn correspondingly. For the purpose of properlylimiting the rotation of the target H, I provide the stand I with alateral arm z", Fig. 8, that serves as a stop for arresting the upwardmovement of the rod N, connected with locklever M.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 7, I provide the following means for holding theswitch normally closed-namely, a rod Sand the weighted and pivotedelbow-lever T. The said rod S connects the bar D and the vertical arm ofsaid lever T, whose horizontal arm carries the weight 6. Thusthe weighti normally holds the switch rails in position. (Shown in Fig. 7

In Fig. 1 I show the push-rod E provided with an arm e for raising ortripping the locklever M to disengage its catch from the adjacentswitch-rail B, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5. The lever M has a camor beveled projection m Fig. 5, with which said arm engages and slidesunder said projection. The said arm e rides horizontally on a fixedplate 6 Thus whenever the slide-rod D is acted on by the alined push-rodE and pitman F to open the switch the lock-lever M is at the same timetripped to release said rails.

stand I.

The tripping device U, acted on by wheels of trains passing over thesiding for throwing the switch-rails B automatically, is substantiallythe same as employed in my formerinvention. It consists of a short baror railsection (see Figs. 1 and 2) mounted on rockarms V and arock-lever V, to which is at tached a rod W, that extends alongside thetrack A and operates a bell-crank lever X, that projects under thelock-lever M at a point between its pivot and weighted end. Thus whenthe bar U is depressed by the flanges of car-wheels passing over thesiding B the lever X is rocked, and thereby caused to raise the weightedend of the lock-lever M, so as to disengage its catch m from theswitch-rail. (See dotted lines, Fig. 5.) At the same time this is donethe rails B are acted on by the mechanism hereinafter described andshifted as required to open the switch, so that trains 'may pass onto oroff the siding. The said mechanism is composed of the parts shown inFig. 1 and enlarged in Fig. 4.

A bell-crank lever Y is pivoted horizontally adjacent to the inner fixedrail A and connected by a rod Z with an arm w, attached to the long rodIV. Turnbuckles are applied to rods W and Z and serve to shorten orlengthen them, as may be required. lever Y is further connected with ahorizontal straight lever B on the other side of the track by means of arod A, that extends beneath the latter. Another rod 0 is also pivoted tothe straight lever B and has a slidable connection with a flat slottedbar D, that is attached to the switch-rail 13 adjacent to the lever B.The said bar D is doubled on itself, as shown in Fig. 5, forming whatIterm a gooseneck, and the free end of rod 0 slides between the parallelportions of the said gooseneck and has a vertical pin d, that rides inthe upper and lower slots cl of the same. It will be seen that when therod IV is drawn in the direction of the arrow (shown in Fig. 4) theshorter, Z, will have the same movement and the rods A and 0 be moved inopposite directions, the latter in that case drawing the switch-rails Bover. Thus the slots d in the gooseneck D have no efiect when the switchis to be shifted, but permit the switch to be thrown by hand, since itthen allows the pin to slide in the slots, so that the bar 0, lever B,rod A, and lever Y'remain stationary. The slots also allow for the lostmotion required that the lock may be released before the rails B arethrown for the siding.

I also provide means for unlocking or releasing the hand-lever latch Lfrom the outer notch of plate 2'that is to say, I connect the rod W,Fig. 1, by means of ashort rod E with a bell-lever F, and the latter isin turn connected by a rod G with a rock-shaft H, (see Fig. 8,) which isarranged at the base of the switch-stand I. From said rock-shaft H a rod1 extends vertically to a lever K, pivoted just below the plate i of theswitch- The free end of said lever K acts The bell-crank against. thelatch L to throw it out of the notch, so that the target rock-shaft G isleft free to rotate, as required, to allow bar D to shift to close theswitch, which is effected by only when cars are intentionally directedfrom the siding onto the main line, but also when cars in switchingeither in a yard or elsewhere are accidentally thrown farther thandesired. In that case if a car should be forced through a switch itwould tend to injure the switchstand or operating devices unless somemeans for releasing the locking devices automat ically were provided. Itwill be noted that the instant the lock is released from the railswitch-point the target is shown and remains exposed until the lock isagainin engagement with the switch-point, and this takes place whetherthe switch is operated by hand or automatically. If the switch be opened by hand and the train directed onto the siding, as soon as the flangeof the front track-wheel of a car or locomotive bears down the trippingdevice U the mechanism extending beneath the rails, and of which thegooseneck forms a part, acts to hold the switch-rails rigid to sidingand allows the train to work in and out of switch as long as a car-wheelis on the trip. At the same time the locking-latch L of the switch-standremains released until train has made itsegress and ingress and leavesthe sidin Then the switch closes and locks automatically, and the mainline is again clear.

It is highly important to prevent snow, ice, stones, bolts, or the likefrom resting upon the ties between the fixed rails A and points of themovable or switch rails B. For this purpose I have devised the following'meaus ,for covering and protecting the rails:

As shown in Figs. 1, 5, 6, and 7, two oblong metal plates R are securedto the lateral arms of rocking .or shiftable brackets S, that arepivotally supported upon a rod or shaft T, arranged longitudinally at apoint below and between the rails. a flange along its outer edge. Thebrackets S and plates R, thus connected, are thrown over right or leftwhenever the switch-points B are shifted and always in the oppositedirection to the latter, so that they will always cover space betweenthe switch and stationary rails. The chief means to efiect this is thelever U, Fig. 4, which is pivoted centrally beneath the inner rail B andadapted to swing horizontally. It is connected at one end with theslide-bar D and at the other with a rod V that extends through andrigidly connects the brackets S. The latter connection is at Eachcovering-plate hasoperation of the switch-rails B and prevent intrusionof foreign substances between the fixed and switch rails. This coveringcan be attached to and operated with the devices now commonly usedwithout the use of any other part of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patcut, is

1. The combination, in a railway-switch, with the movable switch-points,of the pivoted locking-bar adapted to engage a switchpoint at its innerend, a rotary target arranged contiguous to the outer end of suchlockingbar, a rock-shaft and beveled gearing for rotating thetarget-shaft, and means for connecting the locking-lever with saidrockshaft, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with the switch-points of the locking bar or leverpivoted between its ends and detachably engaging the switchpoints asdescribed, of a target rock-shaft arranged in vertical bearingscontiguous to'the outer end of the locking-lever, a horizontalrock-shaft mounted in the switch-stand, and beveled gearing connectingthe two rockshafts, a rigid arm projecting from the hori-- zontalrock-shaft, a stop arranged above said arm on the switch-stand, and arod connecting the same arm with the aforesaid lockinglever,substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination with the switch-points, a slide-bar which rigidlyconnects them, a push-bar and pitmau for acting on said sliding bar, avertical rock-shaft carrying a target, and having a lateral arm to whichthe pitman is jointed, a locking-lever pivoted between its ends anddetachably engaging the switch-point's, a cam attached to the pushrodand adapted to engage a projection on the locking-lever, for tilting thesame, a horizontal rock-shaft geared with the target-shaft, and a rodconnecting such rock-shaft with the aforesaid locking-lever atapointadjacent to its weighted end, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination with the fixed rails and shifting or switch rails ofa tripping device located between them, a crank arm or lever connectedwith said device, a long pull-rod attached to said lever, a verticalrocleshaft carrying a target, and means for connecting it with theswitch-rails, a weighted lever and rod for holding the switch-railsnormally closed, a pivoted latch and lever attached to an arm of thetarget-shaft, a notch-plate on the switchstand with which said latchengages, a pivoted lever adapted to act on the aforesaid latch fordisengaging it from said plate, to allow the target-shaft to rotate, anda rock-shaft, connecting-rod, and lever, for connecting with theaforesaid long rod, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, with the switch-points and fixed rails, of automaticmechanism substantially as described, for shifting the saidswitch-rails, a tripping device located alongside the rails, acrank-shaft connected with such device, and a rod extending to andconnected with the aforesaid mechanism, for operating substantially asshown and described.

6. The combination, with the fixed and switch rails, of a trippingdevice adapted to be acted on by car-wheels, a rod extending alongsidethe track,and automatic mechanism connected therewith for shifting'theswitchrails, the same consisting of a rock-leverand straight lever, arod connecting the two, and another rod connecting the straight leverwith the switch-rails, whereby, when a locomotive or car passes over thesiding, traction is applied to the long rod and thereby to the mechanismabove specified, whereby the switch-rails are thrown from their normalposition into position for the siding, substantially as shown anddescribed.

7. The combination with the shifting rails and means for shifting themby hand, of a slotted bar attached to one of said rails, a rod having aslidable connection with said slotted bar, and supplemental levers androds connected with a tripping device, the latter being arrangedalongside the track, substantially as shown and described.

8. The combination, with fixed rails,switchrails having points asspecified, of plates adapted to shift laterally for the purpose ofcovering the space between one of the switchrails and an adjacent fixedrail, substantially as shown and described.

9. The combination with a fixed rail and movable or switch rail of acovering-plate mounted on a movable support arranged exterior to saidrails and adapted to pass over one of the rails, so as to cover the openspace between them, and means connected with said plate for shifting itsimultaneously with the switch-rail, substantially as shown and de*scribed.

10. The combination with the fixed rails and movable or switch rails ofplates arranged longitudinally parallel thereto and adapted to beshifted laterally over the switch-rails, and means which shift bothswitch-rails and plates simultaneously, but in opposite directions,laterally, substantially as shown and described.

11. The combination with the fixed and switch rails of plates arrangedparallel thereto and adapted to cover one or the other of theswitch-rails, and the spaces between the latter and fixed rails,brackets supporting the said plates and pivoted at their lowerends, andlever mechanism connected with said brackets, and devices for shiftingthe switchrails which are also connected with the said lever mechanismsubstantially as shown and described.

CHARLES TROUP.

Vitnesses:

E. O. VANDERPOORTEN, FRED W. TOREY.

